KANNUR l Wednesday l January 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION At least 66 dead, 51 injured in fire at a ski resort in turkey hotel’s location hampering rescue efforts A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday during a school holiday, killing 66 people and injuring 51 six-member panel to lead investigation The fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, 300 kilometres east of Istanbul, occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. A part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering rescue efforts. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all steps will be taken to nab those responsible for the blaze ■ ■ The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the hotel’s restaurant section, later spreading to other portions Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and was found up to the mark 238 registered guests were present in the hotel at the time of the blaze CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Experts rule out immediate Impact on India due to Trump’s policies Short-term pain, long-term gain... DIPAK MONDAL @ New Delhi HOURS after taking charge as US president, Donald Trump took a slew of major executive actions to effect major policy shifts, many of them with global ramifications whose ripple effects would be felt across the world including India. The Indian equity markets felt the tremors on Tuesday with benchmark indices falling by 1.6%, while the rupee tanked 14 paise to close at 86.59 against dollar. However, most analysts and commentators expect limited economic impact on India as most decisions won’t impact India directly, though the uncertainties could shake a few indicators in the short term. In his America First Trade Policy Trump announced with, drawal from global tax deals as well as the Paris Climate Accord. He declared a national energy emergency reinstating the , country’s oil and gas industry at the centre stage. He also ended the federal mandate for electric vehciels, which has set a target of electrifying all new light-duty vehicles by 2027. While he did not sign any orders announcing import tariff hike, he proposed 25% duty on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. Earlier, Trump had proposed a 60% tax on Chinese imports and 20% tariff on imports from other countries. He also hinted he would target countries with trade surplus with the US. India figures in this list but Soumya Kanti Ghosh, SBI’s group chief economic adviser, says the impact will be limited as India has broadened its export market. Ajay Sahai, director-general and CEO, Federation of India Exports Organisation, believes India stands to gain. “These measures aim to protect US industries but they also create opportunities for Indian exporters to fill supply chain gaps in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and engineering goods,” he said. Trump’s US-centric energy policies also signal potential sanctions on Russia and Iran, DON’s 1st day key executive orders Donald Trump signed on HIS INAUGURATION DAY Withdraws US from the Paris Agreement and WHO Pardons for Jan 6 US Capitol Attack Trump pardoned around 1,500 people convicted or charged in the Jan 6 attack End to Federal cases Trump ordered an end to federal cases against ‘political opponents’ of the Biden administration, effectively helping his own supporters Ends remote work policies for all federal workers Easing regulatory burdens Trump ordered easing of regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1 Combating consumer inflation Trump calls for an “all of government” response to bring down costs for Americans National Emergency at US-Mexico Border Trump declared a national emergency, planning to send US troops to support immigration agents Ending Birthright Citizenship It denies citizenship to children born in the US whose parents lack legal immigration status even if they are not illegals Minimum tax pact axe Withdraws US from global minimum tax agreement which could disrupt energy imports for India. But on the positive side, there is a possibility of more US energy coming to India, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. India needs to diversifying its energy supply sources, intensify domestic oil and gas exploration efforts, and expand investments in renewable energy to reduce external shocks,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder, Global Trade Research Initiative. Two jail officials suspended over VIP treatment to bizman Boby E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram The government on Tuesday suspended Deputy Inspector General of Prisons (Central Zone) P Ajayakumar and Ernakulam District Jail Superintendent Raju Abraham pending an inquiry following complaints that businessman Boby Chemmanur received special privileges while he was lodged at the district jail in Kakkanad, Kochi, in a sexual harassement case registered on the complaint of actor Honey Rose. The suspension order was issued on the basis of an inquiry by DIG Prisons (Headquarters) Vinodkumar M K on the direction of Director General of Prisons & Correctional Services Balram Kumar Upadhyay The probe was launched . following reports that persons of “VIP stature” visited the businessman at the Kakkanad jail. Their names were not recorded in the prison’s visitors’ diary. Apart from them, DIG Ajayakumar too met Boby at the jail on ● More on P4 January 10.  The only one smarter than Vance is his wife (Usha). I would have chosen her (for V-P) but somehow the line of succession didn’t work that way, right? — Donald Trump in his first address after inauguration ...India sees window of opportunity J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be the first foreign minister to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a bilateral discussion, as India aims to strengthen its ties with the US following the inauguration of President Donald Trump as its 47th President. Ru b i o w i l l b e m e e t Jaishakar in the state department soon after his meeting with foreign ministers of India, Japan and Ausralia under the Quad format in the same venue. Jaishankar, who represented India at the inauguration, was seated in the front row alongside Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. He also had brief interactions with members of Trump’s administration, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel. According to sources, the importance of the Quad format is quite pronounced, going by the way the first day’s appointments of Rubio are planned. Soon after interacting with state department staffers, the Quad ministers will meet for an hour. Trump is expected to visit India to attend the first Quad summit later this year. India also intends to host the first meeting of the Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, a new initiative of the grouping, in Mumbai in the coming months. Sources said that India-US ties will continue to grow under Trump despite negotiating some of the challenges, including the tariff plans and the efforts to draw outsourced manufacturing units back to the US. “Tariff on imported goods, we need to wait and see. It could also be the case that the new American administration takes some time before arriving at any definite plans,” said a source. going grand Grass route plan to fill jumbo bellies, prisons coffers S h a n A S @T’Puram After serving people through its jail kitchens, the department of prisons and correctional services is now looking to do something even grander: feeding jumbos. The department is planning to grow Hybrid Napier CO5 grass, a cross between elephant grass and bajra grass, on 40 acres of land on the Nettukaltheri open prison campus – it is being cultivated on 10 acres of the prison land at present – and sell it to the Kottoor elephant sanctuary that is located 4km away and houses 16 jumbos. At present, the cultivated grass is given as fodder to the livestock reared by the inmates and sold outside to farmers. Prison sources said preliminary discussions were held between the forest and prison departments and the project is expected to take off by April once it gets final approval. Ajith Singh, agricultural officer of the open prison, said the project is the brainchild of Prisons Director General Balram Kumar Upadhyay “The . objective is to fully explore the potential of the open prison, which has got 474 acres of land,” he said. The execution will be in four phases, and the final phase will see cultivation being Napier grass grown on the Nettukaltheri open prison campus in Thiruvananthapuram extended to 40 acres with the aim provide 2,500kg of grass daily to the jumbo sanctuary. “In the first year, our plan is to provide 500kg of grass daily . We will gradually raise the supply to 2500kg per day Ajith said. ,” Sources said grass for Kottoor elephants is currently being purchased for `16 per kg. The prison officials said they can provide the grass at a reduced rate. “We can provide the grass at `6-7 per kg. The sanctuary lies about 4 km from the prison and we can transport the grass daily. None can match out price as the entire work is done by prisoners,” said a source. Works on slurry distribution, irrigation and fencing are on at the prison to facilitate cultivation. The fencing aims to ward off wild animals ● More on P4 that destroy crops.  Top gun Chalapathi among 14 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh E J A Z k a i se r @ Raipur Who is Chalapathi Chalapathi, a master military strategist in his 60s, had a J1 cr bounty on his head. Born in Chittoor, he joined the Maoist movement 27 years ago, and lend strategic guidance and intellectual support The encounter is still on. So far, 14 bodies have been recovered. The casualty count is expected to rise — Nikhil Rakhecha, Gariaband SP IN a big jolt to the outlawed CPI (Maoist), its Central Committee member Jayram Pratap Reddy alias Chalapathi and 13 senior cadres were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, 160 km east of Raipur. The gun battle late on Sunday continued intermittently for 48 hours in the Kularighat forest of Mainpur region in Gariaband district, said a senior police officer supervising the operation. Chalapathi, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, was an active member of the Central Committee, which holds significant authority in the banned CPI (Maoist), just below the Politburo. He had a bounty of `1 crore on his head. “The encounter is still on. So far, 14 bodies have been recovered. The casualty count is expected to rise as the search operation has been intensified. This is the first operation where senior leaders of the banned outfit have been killed in Chhattisgarh,” Nikhil Rakhecha, Gariaband SP told this paper. There were intelligence inputs specifying the presence of the senior Maoist assembling in the region. A joint operation launched by a special team faced heavy gunfire from the Naxals, the officer said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on X: “Another mighty blow to Naxalism. With a resolve for a Naxalfree India and joint efforts of security forces, Naxalism is breathing its last today .” Two security personnel, who were injured in the gunfight, are out of danger. The forces recovered self-loading guns, INSAS rifles and Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from the scene, the SP said. Several slain Maoists were said to be members of Mainpur-Nuapada division of the outlawed organisation. So far, 46 Maoists have been killed in Chhattisgarh in January . This is the second major encounter against the Maoists this year in Gariaband district adjoining the Odisha border. safe Saif Actor Saif Ali Khan back home from hospital following multiple surgeries five days ago after he was stabbed by an intruder, in Mumbai on Tuesday | ANI